Australia unveils $11.7 million in funding to fight algal bloom crisis

Australia’s government has unveiled an assistance package of at least A$14 million (S$11.7 million) to help tackle a growing algal bloom crisis off the southern coast that is killing marine life and damaging regional fisheries.

Environment Minister Murray Watt announced the funding package in the southern city of Adelaide on July 21 after inspecting the damage. He described the unfolding natural disaster as “a very serious event”.

The outbreak of the algal bloom in South Australia state

was sparked by the Karenia mikimotoi plankton and was first detected in mid-March. Since then, it has spread across thousands of square kilometres into waterways near Adelaide. 

It has now developed into an event of “unprecedented scale, duration and impact”, the state government said. “Nothing can be done to dilute or dissipate the bloom.”

Mr Watt said the federal funding was intended to help clear dead wildlife and provide assistance for tourism and fisheries, as well as longer-term prevention measures. “There’s clearly a need to invest more in science and research about this event,” he said.

Since the start of 2025, a citizen scientist website cataloguing marine wildlife deaths along the South Australian coast has received more than 13,000 reports of dead wildlife.

In the fiscal year ending June 2024, South Australia’s seafood industry brought in more than A$478 million for the state, including the rock lobster industry that had only just received approval to resume exports to China.

There are three potential causes of the algal bloom, according to the state government, including a marine heatwave that began in September 2024 and pushed temperatures about 2.5 deg C higher than usual. 

Experts have warned that climate change is increasing

the risk of dangerous algal blooms

around the world by warming oceans and changing weather patterns.

The natural disaster could undermine Australia’s pitch to host

the 2026 United Nations climate summit in Adelaide

. 

The federal government has been touting South Australia’s high renewable energy penetration as it competes with Turkey for the event, but the bloom is drawing attention to gaps in how the state manages environmental crises. BLOOMBERG